A warty Mexican hat

Occasionally the central column in a Mexican hat flower head (Ratibida columnifera) gets warty-looking. That was the case with this one I found in Great Hills Park on May 18th. Because the Mexican hat grew near some dead Ashe juniper branches (Juniperus ashei) on the ground, I was able to get their rich harmonizing brown around the flower head, while a broad aperture of f/3.5 kept the background completely free of details.

For something different, check out how photographic illustrator Josh Dykgraaf combines many small photographs of plants and landscapes to create pictures of animals.

© 2021 Steven Schwartzman